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Space Fleet Space-Log Episode 40
Episode 40 - "Refining of Artistry / Conduit of Errors." Spacedate: 4257.108.15.03 Episode 40 starts with the Delta Squad Marines approaching what was hopefully the last of their time on Laak 3, having rescued Lt. Commander Domino from the Philistines while barely engaging in any heinous violations of the Principal Edict what so ever. They were about halfway back to their Shuttle from the crash site when a Ginornous Bear-Owl shaped form crashed through the trees and attacked them, smashing into Ray and Sprout and Zorf. It was the Spiteful Wrath of the Bear-Owl Emperor! The Bear-Owl led off the Round with it's Can-Opener Owl-Beak Strike against Ray, but even with AP30 Ray's AC was too tough for it to get through without trying much harder. Ray attacked back with his patented Simultaneous Bead-Lightning Icy Mounted-Guisarme attack, hitting twice, but it was evident by the minimal amount that The Bear-Owl's Token's Health-Bar moved after taking 50+DC that it was extremely tough. Domino Translocated slightly away, then paused and looked like she was taking notes. Then the creature Paired Simultaneous Bear Claw attacked Sprout, Criticaling once and hitting as well, but he Rose the Sap after his armor was blown off and made his Agility Save versus the mighty swipe and it's Force ability. The next Segment the Bear Owl Grabbed Zorff w/ Both Owl Claws, Immobilizing him; Zorf tried to Translocate away, but rolled one too low on his Mental Strength Check against the Monster's PS. After that, the Bear Owl attacked again on the very next Segment, it now being clear that it had three attacks it was cycling every three Segments and was essentially going on every Segment of the Round. It hit Ray again, this time for a nasty AC77 Piercing Beak Attack, or, as Ray referred to it, "a 2 Shitter"! Braxxz moved in at this point, taking up position behind Ray and Sprout, and shooting through the crowd with Pincer, (Fumbling Safely). The Bear-Owl Double attacked Sprout next, but Fumbled once and missed once! Ray and Zorf Squad Commanded finally, (or Ray did at any rate, Zorf failed again), and Sprout activated his Celerity Psionic. Then the Bear-Owl Beak attacked Ray again, who was forced to give his last shit. Braxxz Crited it, hitting for a bunch of damage, but is was just still incredibly tough, each strike leaving only the tiniest of dents in it's Health Bar. Sprout fired off Paired Jabbs, hitting once and leaving the creature Stunned! Zorf took advantage of the situation to Translocate out of the giant Owl Claws while it was stunned, but it ripped him apart simultaneously for Bleed Damage. Braxxz shot again, and hit, then Ray double attacked and hit one Fumbled on, Bennied & hit twice. All his Shits given, Ray flew up out of reach a bit and opened up with his Bead Lightning Psionic simultaneously as Braxxz fired off his Pistol again, but it Natural 20 Defended them both! The Bear-Owl Emperor Double Owl-Clawed Sprout, be he Defended, then started a Martial Arts Combo with a Snap Kick, (Fumbling, but then Bennying for a hit). The Bear-Owl Fumbled on its counter-beak-attack, then Ray Crited it and Sprout hit as well. It double Bear-Clawed Sprout, Fumbling once & Crited with the other for a 50 to Strike! Next Sprout Fumbled his Defend & once again rose his sap and made the Check vs. Force 20, but with Ray pulled out of the scrum for the moment now Sprout is getting attacked every Segment!; this time he gets double Owl-Clawed and Grabbed with a Critical and a 48, and dragged Prone! Seeing his comrade in trouble, Zorf charged back in and Giant-Batliss/Translocated in and up onto it's back, but just got Defended, so he Squad Commanded to hit! At this point the Bear-Owl tried to do the 180 Degree Head-Spin Beak Attack, but Fumbled, hurting its neck! Sensing weakness, Ray flew back down and attacked in melee again, Sprout super Defended against the Owl-Claws Clamp-Down, then Ray Criticalled and Braxxz missed by one off Squad Command, ("Dammit Zorf!" Domino Mumbles under her breath), then it turned back to Ray with it's nasty Armor-Piercing Beak attack, hitting him again and depleting his RF. Ray attacked back, Critting it right when it Fumbled its Defend, (not like it had any RF left anyway...). Somehow the immensely tough beast continued to live however, so it Bear-Clawed Braxxz, who failed his Gymnastics Check and rolled shit on his Defend, so he had to Acro-Defended to only get hit once, then failed his Force 20 Save & was knocked Prone. Finally Sprout double Jabbed from his Prone-Grabbed position nestled in the Owl Talons below, and Fumbled once, (Safely), but hit with the other one, striking it in the Nards and killing it exactly. Ray took the Beak as a trophy, (perhaps in some sort of Trans-Dimensional Nod?). One Combat Awarded Spacedate: 4257.108.16.37 The Squad cleaned itself up and pulled itself together, Zorf's Bleeding was extinguished and after some more hiking through the pristine wilderness Delta Squad, along with Lt. Commander Domino, returned to the Custom Marine Shuttle. The Shuttlecraft was undisturbed, and under Ray's expert Pilotage they successfully lifted off and headed into Orbit. During the trip Domino typed up her "Suitable for Space-Fleet Eyes" version of her Report and got the Marines to all sign it; the Report used phrases like "Insignificant Fetch Quest" and "Minor Collateral Damage to Lesser Sentient Beings may have occurred in the Area of Operation", and made no mention of any violations of the Principal Edict or heinous murders. Lt. Commander Domino awarded them a Squad Commendation for their work on the surface, but then took the opportunity to chastise Zorff for his failure to follow a Direct Order in the Tap Room back at the Hamlet of Hallstead, and cited him with a Citation, (warning him if it happened again being thrown out of Psi-Core would be the least of his worries). Zorf attempted to justify his actions, (or lack thereof), but she didn't look like she was buying it. They were interrupted when Ray and Braxxz both rolled Natural Ones on their Space Pilot Check for the Supra-Orbital Transition and sent the Shuttle into a spin, but Ray Bennied to recover & pretended that they had both totally meant to do that like they were showing off. Domino did not look amused. Spacedate: 4257.108.16.52 Upon their return to the Boreas, the Marine Pilots successfully docked the Shuttle and some dutiful Blue-Shirts took charge of it to perform some upgrades, (apparently having spent the extra time waiting for the Marines to finish their mission on Laak 3 fruitfully?). The Squad was met by Sgt Johnson, who saluted Domino, then led the group to the Bridge. Admiral Bar-Ack and the rest of the Bridge Crew congratulated Domino on her dramatic return, although there were some subtle indications that she and Councellor Trois were engaging in some sort of Empathic battle of wills the whole time. There was also a, (very), brief interlude where the contributions of the Marines were acknowledged, and Admiral Bar-Ack did award another Delta another Squad Commendation, and therefore a (Field) Promotion to Lance Corporal 3rd Class for everyone in Delta Squad. He also explained to Domino his policy of granting everybody who signed on to his Cockamamie Emergency Protocols Saving the Galaxy Suicide Mission an immediate Field Promotion. Domino promptly accepted and was promoted to Full Commander on the spot, then she headed for her new quarters. Spacedate: 4257.108.17.14 The Marines meanwhile headed back down into the bowels of the ship to the Squad-Room, where Sgt. Jonson rewarded them for a job well done with a single 4-Hour Block of unscheduled time, then sent them up to see the McScotty for a level 7 Requisition. While waiting his turn with the Master Chief Braxx ran into Lieutenant Hu-Ora, who started giving him grief about why didn't the Marine Shuttle have any Armor-Piercing Weapons on it, and recommended that installing some was something that Braxxz should have the Blue Shirts working on it look into. During the conversation Braxxz let it slip that we wasn't even trained with Mounted Weapons, and feeling sorry for him, she offered to train him in Ranged Mounted, which they spent the Block starting on. On the way to the Training Simulator they noticed what they thought was Commander Domino going into Councillor Trois' Quarters, but they couldn't be sure? Meanwhile Zorf Grafted himself with a Psionic Slice & Dice Graft, and Ray upgraded his Construct. Sprout and Commander Petiole were also conspicuously absent. Spacedate: 4257.109.08.00 After a regulation night's sleep in their own not more comfortable then scientifically determined to be necessary bunks the Delta Squad Marines reported in for duty at 08:00 sharp. Anya briefed them on the day's mission: an EVA to run reconnaissance on the wreckage of the Laak 3 Observation Station. Scans had detected concentrations of Ionic Deuterium dense enough to be worth harvesting among the Debris Field, so it was up to the Marines to reconnoiter and confirm their location, them mark them with Transponder Beacons. After a quick trip up to see McScotty and pick up two Transponders each they boarded the now upgraded Shuttle and, thanks to some good Piloting Checks, launched smoothly and pulled up smartly at the edge of the Debris Field. They spent a bit too long powering up inside the Shuttle though, so Anya overrode the Shuttle's Airlock and blasted them out into space, (Zorf and Sprout awkwardly). In the meantime Lt. Hu-Ora was heard munching popcorn loudly into the open Radio Chanel, only to once again be reminded by Commander Petiole to check her mike. They got the impression that everyone on the Bridge had their eyes glued to the main screen, just waiting to see what sort of horror would befall the Marines this time. Anyway, Zorf and Sprout regained control and the Squad re-grouped and launched off into space to explore the Debris Field, soon homing in on a big undulating blob of Ionic Deuterium. Just as Braxxz deployed his first Transponder into the globular mass of shiny liquid, Sprout noticed all of the Conduits exposed in a large piece of nearby station debris where the structure had been torn asunder, and was immediately attacked by Ultra-Borg Conduit Worms! Zorf and Sprout started powering up on an Initiative of 1, then Zorf and Ray Squad Commanded on a 3, (no-one bailed for once!), while Braxxz started Optimizing his weapon. Then the Conduit Worms attacked, one Fumbled against Sprout with its Electric Shock attack, and then Braxxz failed his Gymnastics and still Defended against another one. Overcoming his phobia of the foul beasts, Sprout closed with one and Chill-Touch Jabbed, (but missed), while Braxxz hit another one with a pistol shot and Ray fired up the Aurora Curtain, catching 3 of the 4 worms in the blast's area of effect and successfully hitting them all, (and one guy with the Guisarme as well!). It was pretty clear however that the Conduit Worm's natural resistance to Energy attacks was unchanged, as not much Damage appeared to seep through. At this point the stress of facing his nemesis was too much for Sprout to take, and he lost it, and launched into a killing frenzy! This didn't actually change his stance particularly however, and was not clear if anyone else really noticed. Meanwhile, Braxxz continued his Pistol-Burst, hitting again. Sprout got Puny-Twirly-Clawed at, but Defended, Braxxz Acro-Defended successfully, and one of the Worms used its EM Field to produce a Rail-Gun like effect, launching a piece of Space Station Debris at Ray in a Hypersonic Armor-Piercing fashion, (but it went off of his ridiculous AC). Ray retaliated by Arc-Lightninging 2 guys 4 times each, leaving them smoking but barely alive. Braxxz Fumbled, Safely, then Zorff launched a Clusterbus volley, hitting 2 of the Worms and leaving them both at a sliver left on their Health-Bars. Then Ray killed one of them and moved on to next, but got Rail-Fielded and had to give a shit. Everybody avoided the next round of attacks, then Braxxz fired, hit, Double-Tapped & hit, killing his guy. Sprout hit his guy with Squad Command, & killed it as well, then Ray moved over to attack the last guy, hitting it. Zorf followed up with a non-Called Shot Musket attack, missed the Worm and hit Ray, but of course it was not Armor-Piercing so it went off Ray's AC. Ray Bennied to hit the last guy with his Ice-Guisarme, who Rail-Fielded Zorff, (hitting of course), but the damage was all eaten up by his resplendent RF. Then Sprout moved in, hitting with his Martial Arts attack, and Braxxz followed up with a Called-Shot Double-Tap, killing it. Sprout successfully made his Mind Save to pull out of his Conduit Worm Related Rage before any one noticed too much. Spacedate: 4257.109.08.24 With the Worms quelled for the moment, the Marines prepared to explore the remainder of the Debris Field. In a blatant Dis to the time the Arbiter spent Vision-Blocking the Map, Ray fired up his Vision Globe and sped it about the remains of the Station, quickly revealing the entire map, including all of the ID deposits. Easily able to identify the next closest concentration of Ionic Deuterium, the Squad quickly jetted over. Just as Ray deployed the next Beacon however, 3 more Ultra-Borg Conduit Worms emerged from the Station Debris all around the Marines, and these ones looked bigger and meaner then the last batch for sure! Episode 40 Epilogue Can the Station Debris be rendered safe for the likes of Blue-Shirts? How much if the Ionic Deuterium be recovered? How is Sprout going to cope with waves of increasingly larger Conduit Worms? Tune in next week. Or the week after? 30 Generic Points Back to Space-Log Category:Space Fleet